Tuesday, December 30, 2014

we tried to have a
"trash bag" like dad always does.....but we got so many presents that
it couldn't all fit!!!!! #tooblessedtobestressed

ok that's about it for pictures! On the missionary email, it
won't let you send more than two (sometimes only one) at a time so sorry that
took like 10 emails.....and all my time!!!!! I am out of time now, but I love
you a lot. I am happy and it was so good to see your faces. I have really
missed them!

Dec 22, 2014

THIS WAS PROBABLY THE FUNNEST WEEK IN MY MISSION. We
traveled to Des Moines Monday to stay the night with the STL's there (Matley
& Whipple: know both of them well so it was a fun sleepover). tuesday drove
to Iowa City for MLC: amazing leadership meeting and Sister Sumsion's mind was
blown with how awesome the mission is. Thursday Friday and Saturday we traveled
to 3 different Zone Training Meetings (because we are over all three in the
Ames Stake). Sister Barney thinks so much like me, so training was SSSOOOOOO
fun. Learned more about leadership and love and being led by the Spirit than I
ever expected I would. Felt a cool connection to Bennet way across the country:
half expected to see him at MLC.

All the rest of our time we had in our area (which was,
like, 3 minutes) was spent caroling and handing out He Is The Gift cards. Met a
man from Iraq: one of my life-long dreams. He is a Christian and said we could
come teach him. PUMPED!!!!!!!! I love this work more than anything.

Taught only, like, one lesson and it was with a sweet
ISU student who knows it's true and is thinking of gettign baptized but has to
find a way to tell her family. SUCH A SWEET GIRL!

And last but NOT least: J--- WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!! Sister
Barney and I were GIDDY all day. J---, this buff/tatooed/thug of a kid
started tearing up after his confirmation. It was SO AWESOME. He really
"gets" what it means to give your heart to the Lord. These past two
weeks have been a highlight of my mission. I was panicking that something would
go wrong but everything was going right and then we started the meeting and
headed into the font and it had been locked in the 5 minutes we had left the
room for the opening of the meeting. I turned to J--- and teased:
"J---: you did this, didn't you!" And he laughed so hard and was
like "THIS IS THE WORK OF SATAN!" Barney and I were dying laughing.
And then one elder that was there randomly had a key. SO COOL!

I am so happy to be here. I can't wait to talk to the 5 of
you on Christmas. HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD ONE!!!!!! Now that Jordan's baptism is
over, we officially started to pray for snow so we can have a WHITE chirstmas:
but it's SO WARM!!!!! hahaha I will be reminding myself of this when it's -20
in February....haha.....

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Oh my word, yesterday was 60 degrees here!!!!!!!!!!!!! If it
weren't for #HEistheGift, it wouldn't feel like Christmas at all around here!

But fortunately we had Christmas Zone Conference this week
and they gave us pass along cards for HeIsTheGift: 10 to pass out a day!!!!!!!
It is really huge in our mission and we are pushin' it to spread the good
news!!! It was a good party: we did some skits and got some spiritual stuff
too.....but I forgot my camera today! sorry!

Sister Barney is ADORABLE! We talk about EVERYTHING and she
approaches the work the same way I do so we work really well together. We are
having a lot of fun so far.

Went on my first exchange: I don't know if there has even
been a more spiritual day in my whole mission.

We taught J--- the remaining lessons to prep him for
baptism this week. He got excited to pay tithing and he asked if he could see
us more frequently because "learning about the Gospel is a stress
reliever".....because it's FINALS week this week for him. He is SSSOOOO
incredible. We keep RACKING our brains because of how sincere he is. It's
crazy. I feel like I've been waiting for this my whole life. Please pray for him. It hasn't snowed in a month and we keep
saying that we can pray for snow starting on the 21 so not even weather can
hold it back from happening!!! We are so excited.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

This is Sister Training Leader Sumsion here: live from the my new area with Sister Barney.

SO. FREAKING. HAPPY.

Sister Barney is adorable. I feel like we are already really
close. She and I are very alike in the way we like things done and get things
done, so I am excited for this time ahead of me.

So I don't know if you know a whole lot about STL...and I
think they are different in each mission.....so here's how it works in the
IDMM:

So there are 14 zones in this mission, based on # of
missionaries. But there are 6 stakes in this mission, with a STL companionship
over each stake of sisters. So my area is an "STL
area" which means only STL serve here beacause it's a good
"base" location for us to travel to all the companionships we are over.
We are over 5! Which is pretty cool: some STLs are only over 2. So bascially we
have an exchange every week this transfer, which is excited. And then we have a
monthly "Mission Leadership Counsel" which is the first week of every
month, usually. This transfer we only have one: on the 16th because we have a
Christmas Zone Conference on the 10th. So basically we will be out of our area
one or two times every week. SO FUN! Yeah for new responsibilities!

The mission has changed a lot since when I first came out.
The "wave" is going come in the next 3 transfers so it will probably
change a TON when I leave. For example: when Sister Lloyd was here, she trained
5 times and was an STL at, like, 6 months out because they had such a shortage
of experienced missionaries. (which is ok, because Lloyd was like the best
missionary ever and was over like 10 companionships of sisters.) But now that
the mission is shrinking, thanks are changing a lot and only calling sisters
near the end of their missions. So I replaced Rogers here who just went
home. And Barney goes home in 2 transfers and I go home the following one!!!!!
SOOOOOOO weird to think that I only have 3 transfers left and I will probably
be here until I do so. AAAHHHH!!!!!!! crazy!!!!!!!!!! (just
kidding: I'm never going home: I love my mission too much.)...

...

Solidified by me coming here and meeting Jo--- my
first night. He is the nephew of a member in Des Moines who have been teaching
him for awhile. He decided he was ready, contacted the missionies who taught
him 2 lessons in one week while he was at their house there over Thanksgiving,
and then gave him to us. My first night here was his
first lesson. We have talked to him every day since and he's getting baptized
in two weeks. I can't believe how amazing he is. He really really understands
how amazing this message is. He is 25, a stud, and a genius. WE ARE SO HAPPY
FOR HIM. It's so cool to think that the Lord really has this big plan for us we
can't even see. Jordan will be my 3rd baptism on my mission and I know the Lord
has been preparing both of us to meet each other. Sister Barney and I say
everyday "It's just so cool that the Lord let US be the ones to teach
him." He's a rock star. So excited. If you'd like to pray for him, do Because he totally is ready.

Also: at the ward Christmas party, I sat next to a man named A--------. He told me he recognized me and my name. And then he spent like 20
minutes telling me about how much you had helped him as bishop in Park City,
dad. He was so touched that he got up and bore his testimony yesterday about
it. It was this HUGE tender mercy of the Lord showing me how much good can come
from one man's actions.......and that that man was my FATHER!!!!!!! I felt so
cool to be a part of this big circle, now serving in HIS ward and I was just so
touched that the Lord intertwined our paths again and how amazing my Earthly
Father was for HIS service to the Lord. Dad, I love you so much. You really
changed my life by being who you are. And you made a HUGE impact on his. He married a girl from Provo and they have two kids. INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!